THE LONGMEADOW NEWS. Missions. Pastor's Message. Traveling with Jesus And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

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1 Pastor's Message Traveling with Jesus And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Matthew 28:20 In our culture, the arrival of June marks so many moments of transition. We have the completion of the school year as children move from one grade to another. There are graduations from high school and college that can involve even greater transitions, even some major moves. There are camp sessions and vacations, traveling for short day trips to spend weekend days at the beach or in the mountains. And so as we each disperse to seek opportunities for rest or adventure, I wish you all times of renewal for your spirits. But I also want to remind and assure you that you do not go alone. After the resurrection, Jesus walked among his followers continuing to teach and prepare them. And then came the time for him to leave the earth, but in his final words, he assured them that they would never be alone for he would be with you always, to the end of the age. This promise continues to this day. No matter where we are or where we go, Jesus goes with us to guide, illuminate, embrace, comfort, challenge and love us. And so I am inviting you to let us know where you go with Jesus this summer. Elsewhere in this newsletter you will find a Traveling Jesus picture to color in and take with you on vacation, off to college or boot camp, to summer camp or a day out at the beach. Please take a photo of yourself, your family and friends with the picture and share it with us. You can post it directly to our church s Facebook Page ( or it to me at my personal address (ruth1218@comcast.net) and I will print them up and put them together into a bulletin board so that we can share each other s summer journeys and adventures. Speaking of traveling, our entire congregation will be traveling as well as receiving visitors as we try out sharing union services with our friends at the Chester Congregational Baptist Church for the month of August. You can read the details of this new venture elsewhere in this newsletter. Wherever you travel, my heart and prayers go with you and I ask for yours to go with me. We are bound together by our Savior who is with us always even to the end of the age. Safe journeys and blessings to you, Pastor Ruth Missions SPECIAL MISSION OFFERINGS Many thanks to everyone who participated in our recent special offerings at Longmeadow. We received $420 for the Blankets Plus Offering, which will help purchase blankets to help families fleeing from their homes, recovering from disaster and more. We also received $289 for the Strengthen The Church, which supports the expansion of ministry and growth of UCC local congregations. PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY DRIVE During the month of June, we will be collecting jars of peanut butter and jelly to be donated to the Chester Food Pantry. This will help supplement meals for students and their families during the school summer vacation period. The Chester Food Pantry is available to anyone who lives in Auburn as well. There will be a basket in the rear of the sanctuary for these items. PUZZLES AND GAMES FOR ROCKINGHAM HOUSE OF CORRECTIONS During the months of July and August, we will be collecting new puzzles and games to be distributed to the Rockingham County House of Corrections. These puzzles and games MUST be new and still be in their original packaging to be accepted. At a later time, we will have a list of the games that they will be accepting. June, 2018 Page 1

2 Bible Study Class A brand new Bible Study class will begin on Monday June 4th when we will begin the next book in the series entitled, Introducing the Old Testament by Rev. Anne Robertson and published by the Massachusetts Bible Society. The class meets weekly on Mondays from 7-8:00 in Sunday School Room 1. If you have been thinking about participating in a Bible Study, this would be a wonderful time to start as we will be beginning a new series. You do not need to have participated in the previous class to join this one. It is introductory in nature and assumes no previous formal study or knowledge. A text book is required and can be purchased through Amazon for $14.00 by following the following link: Testament-Exploring-Bible/dp/ / ref=sr_1_3?ie=utf8&qid= &sr=8-3&keywords=introducing+the+old+testament. Please contact Pastor Ruth if you have any questions. It's Popcorn Season On Saturday June 9th, the Auburn Safety Complex and Parks and Rec. Department are working together to put on the Old Home Day from 4:00 until Fireworks at Dusk. Longmeadow has once again been invited to participate by selling popcorn and we are seeking volunteers. Please let Pastor Ruth know if you are able to help us out. Any amount of time volunteered is greatly appreciated! Calling All Graduates "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope." Jeremiah 29:11 With great joy on Sunday, June 3, we will celebrate Graduation Sunday, acknowledging the accomplishments and celebrating the bright futures of our young people who will be graduating from Junior High and High School. We want to make sure that we have all of the graduates Please join us as we congratulate these young people and wish them all the best in their future endeavors. Deacons Deacon for June is Mary Calder. Confirmation was held on Sunday, May 20. It was also Pentecost Sunday and we also had a baptism. Father s Day is on June 17, Gifts have been purchased. Gifts were also purchased for Mother s Day. This summer, Pastor Ruth has arranged to share services with the Chester Congregational and Baptist Church. August 5 & 12, worship will be in Chester with Pastor Ruth preaching. August 19 & 26, worship will be in Auburn with Pastor Linda preaching. The hosting church will provide assistance of a deacon, lay readers, greeters, children s time, musician and bulletins. We will follow the regular order of worship of the host church. All services will be at 9:30 in both locations. There will be no café church this summer. June, 2018 Page 2

3 School Kits & Backpacks Church World Service School Kits and Backpacks for Children at AVS The Christian Education Committee and the Vitality Team are joining up once again for a special annual outreach project and we hope you will join us. To start of the new Sunday School year together, our young people will once again be assembling Church World Service School Kits give children in impoverished schools, refugee camps, areas of natural disaster or other difficult settings some of the basic tools for learning. Throughout the summer, when you see Back-to- School sales, we invite you to pick up the following items to fill the bags. Blunt-nose metal scissors (rounded tip) 70-count spiral notebooks or notebooks totaling pages (no loose-leaf or filler paper) 30-centimeter ruler (12") hand-held pencil sharpener large eraser new pencils with erasers box of 24 crayons (only 24) In addition, the Vitality Team is once again going to put together backpacks of school supplies for children at Auburn Village School who may have financial needs. In consulting with the school principal, we have found that, in addition to the items listed above, the following items are desired for these backpacks: Unused backpacks Composition books (the type with a cloth binding, often with a mottled black cover) Dry Erase Markers (thin size) 2 pocket folders Packages of ball point pens Glue sticks Individual packages of tissues Sewing School Bags In preparation for our annual Sunday School kick-off mission project, we are seeking individuals to help sew school bags for our children to fill with supplies for Church World Service. The fabric has all been cut to size and sewing instructions are provided, we just need your help with sewing the bags together. It is all straight stitching, no fancy stitches required. If you can assist with this project, please see Patti Allard or Pastor Ruth. Thank you. Breakfast The Longmeadow Breakfast Crew is on vacation for the summer (it's in our contract... ha). Breakfasts will resume in September. A box will be available throughout the summer to receive your donations. Thank you for your generosity. June, 2018 Page 3

4 Trustees Meeting Minutes May 8, 2018 at 6:30 PM I. Financial report We reviewed the budget report through April 30. The current budget deficit is consistent with that which has been projected. Revenues are currently on track but the timing of receiving them does not always align with scheduled expenses. To date none of the expense lines are problematic. II. Facilities and Maintenance A. Auburn Road Agent Mike Dross attended the meeting to discuss our plan to pave the lower parking lot this summer. We discussed the culvert that runs from the end of the parking lot under Wilson s Crossing Road. Mike stated that he is going to clean the ditch from Hunting Road down to that culvert and then place rip-rap stone to help with drainage. Bruce Seavey said that he planned to start excavating the lot by mid-june. A significant amount of material will have to be removed before new gravel can be brought in. We currently have 4 paving bids to evaluate. We acknowledged that the lot may be gravel for several weeks before the paving is completed. B. John Champ, representative of Industrial Communications, has advised us that they have rejected the site for a cell tower. Their determination was based on a perceived lack of suitable access to where the tower would be erected. C. Based on our review of the parsonage on April 22 we have concluded that all exterior doors and windows will be replaced prior to installing the vinyl siding. We will get the rough openings measured as soon as possible so we can get them priced out. Our plan is to install the windows and doors and strip the clapboards with volunteer help. We currently have 3 bids for installing the vinyl siding. D. Bill Calder reported that the well was chlorinated, and fresh filters were installed on April 23. E. We obtained a price from Grease Busters to clean the kitchen exhaust hood. They also do extinguisher and emergency lighting inspections. A cost comparison will be completed to determine who we will use this fall to do the life safety equipment inspection. F. The target date for church clean-up day is now Saturday, June 16. A list of tasks that can be completed in a relatively short period of time was developed. An announcement soliciting volunteers for the work day will be placed in the June newsletter. III. Tiny Tots Director The Tiny Tots Director s position has been posted on a couple web sites. Cathy will have the resumes of interested candidates sent to her. Bill Wood will work with her on screening the resumes and scheduling interviews as soon as possible. This timeframe will provide for a smooth transition with ample time for Cathy to work with the new individual. IV. Policy Development Work on developing a policy manual continues. The draft of several policies related to personnel and fiscal operations were distributed for review. Pending discussion, we would hope to adopt the policies at the June meeting. The meeting adjourned at 8:05 Our next meeting is tentatively scheduled for 6:30, Tuesday, June 12, 2018 Confirmation Congratulations to our confirmands: André, Katelyn, Noelle, and Samantha. June, 2018 Page 4

5 Important Announcements PARKING LOT Puzzle Here's a little something to make you stop and think. Enjoy and good luck. Excavation of the main parking lot will begin in early June. We do not expect there to be any disruption accessing the church, however you should be aware that the area is a construction zone and caution should be observed. The lot will likely be gravel for several weeks prior to the installation of the new pavement. VOLUNTEER FOR CHURCH CLEAN UP DAY Saturday, June 16 We need your participation to make the church spring cleaning day a success. We have developed a list of tasks that can generally be completed in a relatively short period of time. Note: You are welcome to do the work on another day that fits your schedule if you cannot come on the 16th. Just indicate the task and probable date when you sign up. Use any of the following options to sign up for one of these jobs: Put your name on the sign-up sheet in the back of the sanctuary Call the church office at and leave a message Peggy in the office at frannys1@aol.com Partial List of Tasks to be Completed Brush behind playground fence and shed Urethane front-door threshold Paint hand railings Top to bottom cleaning of kitchen (3 or 4 people) Remove and replace trim on alley-way door Replace tiles in several doorways Vacuum and turn cushions in the pews Power wash garage doors at Parsonage Rake and seed spots of Parsonage lawn Clean and organize classrooms Clean and organize loft above sanctuary Anything else you have observed that could use a good cleaning. June, 2018 Page 5

6 Prayer List For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 Friend Patrick (age 8) Tom Miller Thomas Mercier Beverly Mercier David Nye DeSheng (age 6) Sam Norris Donna Ross Donna Robinson Merry Ellen Terry Kobel Helen Mulley Family of Jodi Emery Diana O. Patti Allard Jodi S. John L. Aaron Dumas Duane Laura Jeff D. Shirley Norris Martha Jerry Diorio Nate Holmberg Norma Picard Josey Prayer Need (Stoney Worster) (Gary Poulin & Lynne Howard s friend) Good health and success in college Full-time employment (adopted son/rebecca Roy s friends) (Shirley Norris s great grandson) (Geri Silva s sister) (Janice Fusco s cousin) Grieving her passing Grieving passing of her sister recovery In addition Please pray for all those serving our country in the military, especially the following known to members of our church and community. Nick Nussdorfer, Mathue Calder, Nick Jean, and Dylan McCarthy. May we all continue to pray for peace Please continue to pray for all those grieving the loss of loved ones or recovering from storm damage. Please remember our friends in area homes: Friend Home Barbara Lee Courville 44 W. Webster St Manchester NH Muriel Lesko Mt Carmel 235 Myrtle St. Manchester, NH Dot Heald Maple Leaf Health Center 198 Pearl Street Manchester, NH Call Mary Breen at , or her at longmeadowprays@gmail.com for additions or names to be removed from the Prayer List. Newsletter Submissions Thank you to all who continue to submit content to our newsletter. The summers are short and so may be next few newsletters as we enjoy the outdoors. Submit content for future issues to webmaster@longmeadowucc-auburnnh.org by the 25 th day of each month. Puzzle Answer Answer to the puzzle on page 5 is "Names of God's Son". How did you do? June, 2018 Page 6

7 TRAVELING JESUS PRINT it. COLOR it. TAKE A PHOTO of yourself, your family and friends with this picture and SHARE it with us. You can post it directly to our church s Facebook Page ( June, 2018 Page 7